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  • ´trop de fil à retordre’ I know it means ‘too much trouble’, but why? Surely not ‘too much shrink-wrapped wire’ as suggested by Deepl

´trop de fil à retordre’ I know it means ‘too much trouble’, but why? Surely not ‘too much shrink-wrapped wire’ as suggested by Deepl

Alan M.C1Kwiziq community member

´trop de fil à retordre’ I know it means ‘too much trouble’, but why? Surely not ‘too much shrink-wrapped wire’ as suggested by Deepl

This question relates to:French dictation exercise "Letter from a pianist to another"

Dictation exercise C1

Asked 4 years ago
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CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi Alan, 

Here are a few good translations of the expression 'donner du fil à retordre à quelqu'un' -

https://mobile-dictionary.reverso.net/en/french-english/donner+du+fil+%C3%A0+retordre

Hope this helps!

 

Like04 years ago
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Chris W.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

You are asking for a reason why "too much yarn to spin" used idiomatically means "too much work to do"?

Like14 years ago
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Alan M. asked:

´trop de fil à retordre’ I know it means ‘too much trouble’, but why? Surely not ‘too much shrink-wrapped wire’ as suggested by Deepl

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